Plants and flowers are often sold in individual pots at retail stores, showrooms, and the like, and are typically displayed in both indoor and outdoor areas. The nature of plants and flowers requires them to be placed in pots so that they can continue to be watered and receive sunlight during transport and display. It is also important for consumers to view and access the plants and flowers easily so that they can determine which to purchase and then carry them to the cashier.
An inherent problem in the prior art with selling plants and flowers in individual pots in this manner, however, is that each pot must be handled several times before it reaches the display site. That is, each pot must typically be handled one-by-one from location to location, thereby increasing cost and making transport time-consuming and inconvenient. Another problem with selling plants and flowers in this manner is that they cannot be packaged and stacked like other merchandise, and therefore, special shelves are needed both for transporting and displaying the pots.
In my previous invention, as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,233,931, a rack can be used to transport potted plants and flowers and to display them without the necessity of removing the plants and flowers from the rack. The rack comprises stacking shelves with a front, hinged portion which, in its upright position, maintains the pots on the shelves during transport and in its lowered position provides an extended area for display. Each shelf has built-in comer supports with posts that may be of different lengths to set the vertical distance between adjacent shelves. When the distance between shelves is large, that invention is particularly useful for displaying taller plants and flowers.